Year: 2008

Venus on Earth, the third full-length album from LA-based band Dengue Fever, combines retro-kitsch and classic-rock revivalism. The early strains of opening track “Seeing Hands” call to mind those of “The End” by the Doors, but once the vocals, sung in Khmer (as they are on most of the remaining tracks), begin, the song becomes surreal, stirring an alien quality into Dengue Fever’s nagging familiarity. Rooted in Cambodian pop and psychedelic surf guitar, Venus on Earth seasons reverb-drenched rock with jazz, disco, and a dash of lounge. It threatens to devolve into self-consciousness, but sidesteps it; the psychedelia doesn’t feel forced, even when the ‘60s- and ‘70s-style production is a little too weird to qualify as a tribute to its inspirations.

Jucifer is one of rock’s great conundrums. A unique and very, very loud punk/metal duo, it has developed a reputation as one of the most punishing live acts today. Yet their songwriting has often failed to deliver the goods promised by their impressive instrumental onslaught. Previous albums have been full of difficult moments, awkward writing, and anti-melodic songs. On L’autrechienne, Jucifer has finally arrived.

Following an experiment launched by tech wiz and nerd extraordinaire Peter Eckersly, of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and David Downs of SF Week; Eckersly concluded that Comcast was intercepting transmissions between the users of p2p file sharing program BitTorrent and stopping them from being sent.

True to their name, Evangelicals sound as though they’ve been worshipping at the temple of Thom Yorke. The Evening Descends is a reverent, shoe-gazing gospel that bridges the fourteen-year gap between Radiohead’s Pablo Honey and In Rainbows. Their aural tithing is more than mere songs; the group composes soundtracks for fever dreams. Riddled with reverb and petulant vocal performances, The Evening Descends is a wonderful, woozy record.

Punky collective Pegasus-XL is releasing their debut album The Antiphon on the Ernest Jenning Record Co. The brainchild of Mark Dale (Disband), Joel Hatstat (Cinemechanica), Jeff Tobias (We Versus the Shark, Dark Meat) and Jeff Rosenstock (the Arrogant Sons of Bitches, Bomb the Music Industry), Pegasuses-XL is a group of friends with mutual admiration for Scrabble, dystopian novels, and politics.

Tapes ‘n Tapes will hit the road this spring in support of their upcoming album, Walk It Off, which is set for release on April 8th. The ticket presale starts on February 15th at noon EST via www.tapesntapes.com and public on sale is set for February 22nd. Produced by Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Sleater Kinney, Weezer), Walk It Off is Tapes ‘N Tapes first record since 2006’s The Loon.

The seventh annual four-day camping and music festival will be held on June 12-15 on the same 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville. A full list of confirmed acts follows, and more will be announced in the coming weeks. The final Bonnaroo 2008 lineup will total over 100 bands and over 20 comedians performing on 13 stages over four days. Tickets go on sale exclusively through www.bonnaroo.com on Saturday, February 16 at 12:00 PM EDT.